Station-indicator.



R. T. RUCKER.

STATION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED lULY31, 1914.

1 146,207 Patented July 13, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

R. T. RUCKER.

STATION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION man JULY 31. 1914.

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R. T. RUCKER.

STATION INDICATOR.

- APPLICATION FILED JULY 31, I914. 1,146,207. Patented July 13, 1915.

3 SHEETS--SHEET 3- am Minnow. 0

apparatus.

'l. BUCKER, OF ANTIOCI-I,

STATION-INDICATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent. Pg tt g tegl J ily 1 3, 1915,

Application filed July 31, 1914. Serial No. 854,350.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, ROB RT T. RUOKER, citizenof the United States, residing at Antioch, in the county of Davidson andState of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inStationlndicators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to station indicators and has for its object theprovision of a simple device whichmay be placed in a car and by the useof which stations along the line traveled by the car will besuccessively indicated so that passengers may be correctly informed asto the station that is being approached.

A further object of the invention is to provide a station indicatorwhich may be used upon long or short routes without material change inthe mechanism.

A further object of the invention is to provide a station indicator inwhich the names of the stations passed by the car will be displayed inproper order whether the car travels back and forth over a single lineor travels in a loop so as to return to its starting point without twicefollowing the same course.

All these stated objects, and such other incidental objects as willappear in the following description, are attained in the mechanismillustrated. in the accompanying drawings and the invention resides incertain novel features which will be particularly pointed out in theclaims following the description.

In the drawings, which illustrate the preferred embodiment of theinvention, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the working parts, theinclosing frame or casing being omitted. Fig. is an .end elevation ofthe working mechanism with the casing in section. Fig. 3 is a transversesection with parts broken away. Fig. 1 is a horizontal section throughone end of the device, the section being taken just above the horizontalcenter of the Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the guides at theends of the device and the horizontally moving slides or carriers whichcoact therewith. Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of one of the nameplates.

In carrying out my invention, I employ a casing 1 which may be of anydesired form and construction and may be conveniently provided with amovable cover or top2 to facilitate the placing of name plates in properposition therein and it is also provided on its front side witha sightopening 3 which is preferably glazed, as indicated at 4., and throughwhich the names ofthe stations are to be read. Above this opening, thecasing may be provided with a panel 5 containing any preferred legend,such as advertisements or some phrase which will indicate to thepassengers that the name of the station being approached is displayedthrough the sight opening 3. In the bottom of the casing 1, I secure a base plate .6 which is preferably of cast metal but the material of whichthisplate is made may be varied at will. base plate is provided spacedribs 7 which form tracks or supports upon which the name plateshereinafter described may slide. Adjacent the ends of this base plateand spaced from the end walls of the casing, I.

secure standards-8 upon which are mounted slides 9 and 10. Between thesaid standards 8, rails or ribs 11 are provided upon the base plate .6and .these ralis or ribs form guides or tracks for lower horizontallymoving slides or carriers 12, as will be presently more particularly setforth. Adjacent the tracks 11, I secure to the base plate verticallydisposed partitions or liners 13 which are cut away at their loweredges, as shown at 14c in Fig. 5, so as to accommodate the lowerportions of the carriers 12. These partitionsare provided with studs 15by which they may be easily fitted in place upon the base plate 6 and attheir upper edges they are provided with overhanging tongues orprojections 16 which coact with the upper edges 17 of the partitions toform notches 18 adapted to receive the rear edge of a horizontalpartition of floor 19. The upper edge of the partition 13 is cut away,as shown at 20, to accommodate the upper portion of the carrier or slide12 and the cut away portions 1-l and 2.0 produce an Upon the uppersurface of this elongated longitudinally projecting tongue 21, asclearly shown in Fig. 5. A longitudinal slot '22 is formed in thistongue 21 to accommodate a plate holding latch 23 coii sisting of aspring plate having a hook shaped lug or projection 24 .atits free end-This construction also permits the latch to be adjusted longitudinallyso as to accommodate a greater or less number of name plates as may bedesired. The carrier 12 is provided with grooves 27 in its upper andlower edges, the groove in the lower edge of the carrier engaging thetrack 11, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The groove in the upper edge ofthe carrier engages a downturned lip or flange 28 at the end of theintermediate floor or partition 19 constituting a track or guide for thecarrier, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Secured upon the outer side of the carrier 12 are spring plates 29having hooks or other retaining devices 30 at their front ends and theseretaining devices are arranged to extend through the spaces provided bythe cut away portions of the adjacent vertical partition 13 so as toengage the name plates in the operation of the apparatus. On the innerside of this carrier I secure the retainer springs 30 which coact withthe dogs 30 in the operation of the apparatus to keep the name platesupright while being shifted. The vertically moving carrier 10 isprovided on its inner side with a yieldable plate engaging member 31which is illustrated as consisting of a leaf spring having a hook, lipor other projection 32 at its upper end. In the operation of theapparatus, this plate engaging device will spring int-o engagement withthe upper edge of the name plate to be moved and, upon its downwardmovement, will force said plate to a position immediately in rear of thesight opening 3 so that the name thereon may be read. In the upwardmovement of the said carrier, the engaging member will ride over thename plate until the projection on said member has cleared the upperedge of the plate. The carrier 9 is similar in construction andoperation to the carrier 10 but the plate-engaging member 32 on thecarrier 9 has its lower end free and is arranged to engage under thelower edge of a name plate to be raised. It will also be understood, byreference to the drawings, that the carriers 9 and 10 are in diiferenthorizontal planes when at rest, the carrier 9 being illustrated as atthe upper end of the standard upon which it is mounted while the carrier10 is at the lower end of the standard upon which it travels. Thehorizontal partition or upper floor is provided at its ends withupstanding ribs or flanges 33which constitute tracks or guides forcarriers 34 similar to the carriers 12. The plate engaging members 35upon the carrier 34, however, are extended rearwardly instead offorwardly, as shown clearly in the drawings and especially in 5. Avertical partition 36 is provided above the floor or horizontalpartition 19 and this partition 36 is similar in construction to thepartition 13, in fact, identical in construction but inverted and turnedend for end so that the longitudinal projecting slot-ted tongue willextend toward the rear of the apparatus and the tongue and notch whichengage and serve to support the partition or floor 19 will be at thefront side of the apparatus. The stud 37, carried by this upperpartition 36, will be secured in a beam 38 which is rigidly secured tothe upper ends of the standards 8 and extends between the same, saidbeam being provided with a depending longitudinal lip or flange 39 whichconstitutes the upper guide or track for the upper carrier 34. A latch40, similar in construction to the latch 23, is secured upon thepartition 36 and projects through the slot therein, this latch 40 havingits free end disposed at the rear of the mechanism and being in effect areversal. of the latch 23. The floor or horizontal partition 19 isprovided on its upper side with. ribs or cleats 41 which constituteguides or rails upon which the name plates may travel.

Journaled in the depending flanges or lips 28 and extendinglongitudinally of the machine and projecting through one end of thecasing is a rock shaft 42 which is equipped at its outer end with anoperating arm or lever 43. Upon the shaft 42 between each. end of thecasing and the adjacent vertical partition, I secure a spider or manyarmed lever 44. This lever has forwardly and rearwardly projecting arms45 to the outer ends of which are pivoted links 46, one of said linksbeing carried downwardly and pivoted to the front carrier 10, while theother of said links is carried upwardly and pivoted to the rear carrier9. The spider or lever 44 also has upwardly and downwardly extendingarms 47 which are connected respectively by links 48 to the upper andlower carriers 34 and 19, as clearly shown. It will thus be readily seenthat when the shaft 42 is rocked the carriers 9 and 10 will be moved inopposite directions and the carriers 12 and 34 will be simultaneouslymoved also in opposite directions. A spring 49 is secured at its frontend to the upper arm 47 and at its rear end to the back of the casing soas to act upon the spider or many-armed lever in opposition to thehandle or operating lever 43.

The names of the stations are printed, embossed or otherwise displayedupon separate name plates 50 which may be of any material but will bepreferably made of metal for the sake of durability. These name platesare of such dimensions as to fit in an upright position upon the base 6or the floor 19 between the vertical partitions so that when a number ofthe plates have been placed in the machine they will be supportedagainst endwise movement or twisting. Each name plate carries the nameof one station and the plates are to be arranged in ill an ordercorresponding exactly with the order of the stations along the linetraveled by the car so that if the plates be successively moved intoposition behind the sight opening the names of the stations will bedisplayed in the same order as the stations are successively reached.The plates are doubled on themselves at their ends therea by formingflanges or offsets 51 which constitute spacers whereby the adjacentplates are held out of contact and in position to be readily engaged bythe several carriers. The vertical end partitions will project beyondthe front and rear edges of the floor 19 a distance equal to thethickness of one name plate and guides 52 will be secured upon the frontand rear walls of the casing so as to prevent falling of the name platesas they are moved vertically past the edges of the said floor 19, theinner edges of these guides being spaced from the adjacent edges of thesaid floor a distance equal to the thickness of one name plate, as willbe readily understood. A retaining or keeper spring 53 is also securedto the back wall of the casing and this spring will bear upon the plateraised by the carriers 9 so as to prevent dropping of the same andsupport it in position to be engaged by the horizontally movablecarriers 34. A similar retaining device secured to the front wall of thecasing will prevent premature dropping of the front name plate in theupper tier or row of plates by frictionally engaging the same.

It is thought the operation of the apparatus willbe readily understoodfrom the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings. The plates having been arranged in the properorder they are placed upon the floor 19 and the base plate 6 in verticalposition and the latches 23 and 40 are adjusted so as to retain theplates against falling. The apparatus is operated through the medium ofthe handle or lever 43 and this lever or handle may be actuated in anyconvenient manner.

It may be manipulated by the brakeman or some other member of the traincrew but in actual use generally will be operated mechanically orautomatically through trip devices which it is not necessary to explainat this time. The drawings show the position of the parts just after thelever 43 has been swung forward. Upon release of the lever, the spring49 will act upon the spider 44 so as to rock the shaft 42 in thedirection reverse to that given it by the lever 43. The carriers 9 willbe thereby moved to the lower ends of the standards on which they aremounted, while the carriers 10 will at the same time be moved upwardly.The upper carriers 34 will also be moved rearwardly while the lowercarriers 12 will be moved forwardly. The name plates will be placed insuch position upon the respective floors that the lower tierof plateswill extend to the rear edge of the vertical partitions and,consequently, whenthe carriers 9 are moved downwardly theplate engagingdevices 32 mounted thereon will engage the lower edge of the rearmostname plate. The upper tier of name plateswill terminate at the frontedge of the vertical end partitions and, consequently, when the carriers10 have been moved upwardly the engaging members 31 mounted thereon willengage over the upper edge of the foremost name plate. The carriers12 ontheir forward movement willbe brought to the front of the tier of platesand the plate engaging members or dogs mounted on said carriers willengage the ends of the plate viewed through the sight opening. At thesame time, the upper carriers 34 will have been caused to engage the endedges of the plate which had been previously raised by the carriers9.1As the car leaves the station, the operating lever or handle 43 will beactuated and the several slides then moved so that the plate which hasbeen displayed will be moved rearwardly. pastthe latches 23 and theforemost plate of the upper tier willbe brought into position behind thesight opening and thereby display the name of the next station reachedby the car. At the same time the carriers 9 will raise the rearmostplate of the lower tier of plates While the previously raised plateswill be engaged by the carriers 34 and moved for- .vardly in advance ofthe latches 40. The bringing of this plate to a position in advance ofthe latches will force the entire tier of plates forward a distanceequal to the thickness of one plate so that upon the next upwardmovement of the carriers 10 said carriers will engage the foremost plateof the tier to move the same into place behind the sight opening uponthe next operation of the device. In like manner the lower tier ofplates will be moved rearwardly so that the rearmost plate will alwaysbe in position to be engaged by the carriers 9. The free ends of theretaining springs 30 on the inner sides of the slides 12 and 34 arespaced from the dogs 30 a distanceequal to the thickness of one nameplate with the offset at the end thereof. Therefore, when the saidslides are moved outwardly and the dogs engage over the ends of a nameplate, the ends of the springs 30 will bear against the face of theplate which will be thereby held upright as it is moved to the tier ofplates. As the carrier moves past the movement will take the springsbeyond and free them of the tier of plates.

Should the car travel over the same route in both directions the nameplates will be provided in duplicate, the plates initially placed in thelower tier being arranged in reverse order to those placed in the uppertier but if the car diverges, upon its return trip the name plates willbe correspondingly varied. It will be readily noted that no materialchange is needed to apply the device to any route and the onlymanipulation needed is to properly arrange the name plates. Should theroute be a short one it will be necessary to adjust the retaininglatches 23 and l0 near the back and front respectively of the casing andit may be, also, necessary to vary the throw of the many armed lever orspider l4 and for this purpose I provide a series of openings 54: in theupwardly and downwardly extending arms of the spider so that the links48 may be connected to the same in such manner as to impart therequisite throw thereto. The device is compact in its arrangement andsimple in the construction of its parts and the working mechanism isprotected against injury and also so disposed to be out of the pathtraveled by the name plates or station displaying members so that thenames of the stations will be successively brought into view and thedistance between the stations will not affect the operation of theapparatus.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

1. In a station indicator, the combination of a support, a row ofindependent name plates arranged on said support, means for removing thename plates singly from the support, means for feeding name platessingly to the support, reciprocatory slides at the ends of the supportadapted to.

engage the name plate fed to the support and move said name plate to therow of name plates and then move the row of name plates toward the pointof removal, and means at the ends of the support to engage the rearmostname plate and prevent retrograde movement and falling of the row ofname plates.

2. In a station indicator, the combination of upper and lower supports,vertical partitions arranged at the ends of said supports and havinglongitudinally.disposed horizontal slots,vertical supports arrangedadjacent the said partitions, a plurality of independent name platesarranged upon the supports, vertically movable carriers mounted upon thevertical supports and provided with plate-engaging members adapted torespec tively engage the upper edge of the foremost upper name plate andthe lower edge of the rearmost lower name plate, carriers slidablymounted adjacent the partitions to move horizontally, plate-engagingmembers mounted on said carriers and projecting through the slots in thepartitions to engage the name plates upon the respectively adj acentsupports, and means for simultaneously actuating the several carriers.

3. The combination of a base plate, standards thereon, beams connectingthe upper ends of the standards and provided with longitudinallyextending depending tracks,

end walls erected upon the base plate, up-

standing tracks on the base plate adjacent said end walls, a floorsupported by said end walls, depending and upstanding tracks at the endsof said floor and adjacent the said end walls, independent name platesdisposed upon the floor and the base plate, vertically movable carriersmounted upon the said standards, horizontally movable carriers havingtheir upper and lower edges engaging said tracks, and means forsimultaneo sly actuating all of said carriers.

4 The combination of upper and lower supports, upstanding and dependingflanges constituting tracks at the ends of each of said supports, aplurality of independent name plates arranged in upright position uponeach of said supports, carriers having grooved upper and lower edgesengaging said tracks, resilient dogs carried by the said carriers andadapted to engage the name plates upon the adjacent supports, and meansfor actuating said carriers whereby to move the name plates over thesupports.

5. The combination of upper and lower supports, a plurality ofindependent name plates arranged in upright position upon each support,horizontally movable carriers arranged at the ends of the supports, dogscarried by said carriers and adapted to engage the name plates, andretaining springs secured upon the said carriers and having their freeends spaced from the said dogs to engage the inner face of a name plateengaged by the said dogs, and means for actuating the carriers.

6. The combination of upper and lower supports, end walls adjacent theends of said supports, a plurality of independent name plates arrangedin upright position upon each of the supports, latches mounted on thesaid end walls between the front and rear edges thereof and engaging thename plates to retain them in upright position upon the supports andlock them against retrograde movement, carriers mounted adjacent saidend walls, plate-engaging members on said carriers, means for actuatingsaid carriers whereby a plate may be moved past the latches and beengaged by the same, and means for transferring name plates successivelyfrom one to the other support.

7. In a station indicator, the combination of a support, end walls, aplurality of independent name plates arranged on said supports betweenthe end walls, reciprooatory slides adapted to engage the name platesand move the same over the support, and adjustable latches mounted onthe end walls and adapted to engage the name plates to prevent fallingand retrograde movement thereof.

8. In a station indicator, the combination of a support, end wallshaving longitudinal slots, a plurality of independent name platesarranged on said support between the end walls, reeiprocatory slidesadapted to engage the name plates and move the same over the support,resilient latches having their free ends projecting through the slots inthe end walls to engage the name plates and provided at their oppositeends with longitudinally extending forks bearing against the outer facesof the end walls, and fastening devices inserted through said forks toadjustably secure the latches to the end walls.

9. The combination of a support comprising a base, a floor spacedvertically from the base and beams spaced vertically from the floor atthe ends thereof, depending tracks on said beams, upstanding tracks on,the base, depending and upstanding tracks at the ends of the floor, endwalls secured between the base and the floor and having their upper andlower edges cut away at their forward ends, end walls secured be tweenthe floor and said beams and having their upper and lower edges cut awayat their rear ends, horizontally movable slides having their upper andlower edges engaging said tracks, resilient dogs carried by the saidslides and having their free ends projecting through the cut awayportions of the respectively adjacent end walls, and means for actuatingsaid slides.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT T. RUCKER. [L. s.] Witnesses:

PERCY HARwooD, ALLAN WELBURN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G.

